It will be crowded and cold, but I still wish I was there.
Picture of the Week #22
Shatter cone, American Museum of Natural History, August 2006.
A shatter cone is formed by shock due to the impact of a large meteorite or asteroid (the cone points in the direction of the impact). This specimen is from the Wells Creek Crater in Tennessee.
A big THANK YOU to the editors of Skeptical Inquirer
When the Jan/Feb 2009 Skeptical Inquirer arrived, I was thrilled to see that the topic of the issue was "The New UFO Interest - Scientific Appraisals". Why was I so thrilled? Because I'm the person at work who most often has to field the "I think I saw a UFO" calls, or inquiries from the press when a big UFO story breaks (especially if it is in Texas). The article on "The Stephenville Lights" was particularly helpful since that one still gets brought up at public viewing events or field trips. It was also of particular interest to me since my father is from a near-by town (which also happens to be in a probable impact crater -- the real science of the area is so much more interesting than some misunderstood lights in the sky!). So, again, THANK YOU!
As I'm sure happens to many people in astronomy, I often get asked if I "believe in UFOs". Of course, that's a tough question to answer directly, so I always break it down into what they are literally asking and what they probably actually want to know. Do I believe there are lights in the sky that are unidentified by the average person? You bet. Do I believe they are visiting alien spacecraft? Nope - at least not with the evidence currently on hand. And the other assumed question about whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe? Almost certainly. I'm just pretty sure that those alien life forms aren't visiting earth to kidnap and mutilate our cows.
Edited to add:
About 12 hours after I posted this, Rebecca at Skepchick tweeted about this: California Store Sells Beef Jerky Reclaimed from Cows Mutilated by Aliens
As I'm sure happens to many people in astronomy, I often get asked if I "believe in UFOs". Of course, that's a tough question to answer directly, so I always break it down into what they are literally asking and what they probably actually want to know. Do I believe there are lights in the sky that are unidentified by the average person? You bet. Do I believe they are visiting alien spacecraft? Nope - at least not with the evidence currently on hand. And the other assumed question about whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe? Almost certainly. I'm just pretty sure that those alien life forms aren't visiting earth to kidnap and mutilate our cows.
Edited to add:
About 12 hours after I posted this, Rebecca at Skepchick tweeted about this: California Store Sells Beef Jerky Reclaimed from Cows Mutilated by Aliens
Picture of the Week #21
Sunset after a storm, near McDonald Observatory in west Texas, July 2007.
If you look closely, you can see the domes of the 82-inch Struve telescope and 107-inch Smith telescope on the mountain at the far right.
This photo was taken while I was out at the observatory for our annual summer board meeting. We had a BBQ and reception down at the Sproul Ranch, which was rudely interrupted by some fairly heavy thunderstorms. July is the wet season out there so the rain wasn't much of a surprise and the upside is that west Texas is green and beautiful that time of year.
Happy New Year!
2008 was an up and down year for me, so I'm ready to head into 2009! Lots of big anniversaries are coming up in 2009 - 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope and the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne. So that pretty much touches almost every aspect of my life - science education, astronomy and Tudor history. It's going to be a busy but fun year!
Happy New Year!
I'm ready to head into 2009, but I have to wait one additional second this year. See Bad Astronomy for the whole run-down.
One resolution for 2009 - write more on this blog!
One resolution for 2009 - write more on this blog!
A Texas Christmas dinner
Apologies to the vegetarians...
We decided to do Christmas a little different this year... TEXAS STYLE (in my mind I'm hearing LBJ at the BBQ for the Mercury astronauts in the AstroDome in The Right Stuff). We were tired of turkey after the birdzilla from Thanksgiving and we do ham at New Year's, so we decided to do a big BBQ feast instead. I should have put something in the photo for scale, since you can't really get an idea of how large the platters were... that was a lot of food. A lot of yummy, yummy food. :)
(Thanks to Dad for the photo!)
Picture of the Week #20
Earthrise, by the crew of Apollo 8, December 24, 1968. As many other blogs have noted, including today's entry on Astronomy Picture of the Day, this is the 40th anniversary of the Earthrise photo. This page from ABC (the Australian one) tells the story of the famous photograph.
I have always known a world where the Earth has been seen from space, but this photo never fails to move me. I can only imagine what it must have been like for people all over the world seeing it for the first time 40 years ago. Even when the Earth is only a dot seen from the outer reaches of the solar system (like in the photo I use for my blog banner), it's still home. And although it was written in 1942, long before we explored the solar system, T.S. Eliot said it best:
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Remembering Majel Barrett Roddenberry
The First Lady of Star Trek has died at the age of 76 from leukemia.
From "Number One" in the original Star Trek pilot through to the voice of the computer in the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie, she has been a part of the Star Trek universe in every incarnation. I'm happy that I, like many other Star Trek fans, had a chance to meet her at a convention. She will be missed.
The Face of Copernicus
[This was the post I was working on when the blog went belly-up!]
I love it when astronomy, archaeology, forensics and history come together!
From The BBC:
Researchers in Poland say they have solved a centuries-old mystery and identified the remains of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
A comparison of DNA from a skeleton in Poland and strands of the astronomer's hair found in a book in Sweden almost certainly confirm it is his skeleton.
Archaeologists found the skeleton in north-eastern Poland three years ago in a cathedral where Copernicus lived.
...
Three years ago, archaeologists dug up a skull and partial remains of a man aged about 70, Copernicus' age when he died, near an altar at the cathedral.
Jerzy Gassowski, the leader of the archaeologists' team, said forensic facial reconstruction of the skull found that it bore a striking resemblance to existing portraits of the father of modern astronomy.
Scientists then matched the DNA from one of the skull's teeth and a femur bone with two strands of Copernicus' hair.
Full article
Article from The Guardian
Post from 2005 about the initial discovery
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